Are men and women really so different? Or is it that the genders complement each other and greater together than each gender would be on their own?

It during a debate with a male friend about which gender is better, men or women, that there is no better or worse rather just different. We are designed this way; to complement each other not be the same. If we had been the same, our species would not have survived. I’d even venture to say we would have actually killed each other as we often will joke about doing to our partners who can frustrate us. And I am not taking sides here. Women do truly frustrate men with the way we are just as men frustrate us sometimes.

As my friend and I humourously bantered back and forth, he of course taunted me with the fact that Eve was made from Adam‘s rib and therefore man who was made first, was superior, to woman who was made second. As I furiously sought to come back with a fitting rebuttal, an analogy to technology popped into my mind. It occurred to me, how the next version is always an improvement upon the earlier version, i.e. iPhone, than iPhone 2, then 3, 4, 5 and so on. It could be argued that women are Homosapien version 1.2, with relatively small but very important upgrades over the male Homosapien version 1.1.

There is no real meaning to the choice of numbers other than to denote a difference and that women are a very modest upgrade over men. Now before every man in the world takes offense to this notion, let me explain the premise of how this might be from simply a physiological perspective. Women are essential self-contained where we do not need a man per say to reproduce. Yes we need sperm from men, but that can be sourced and stored for future use and artificially inseminated. Men on the other hand cannot reproduce without a female. Even if they sourced and stored female eggs, the means to grow a fertilized egg into a human being as might be possible with current cloning abilities on a mass scale to sustain a viable population. Not to say that one day, it’s very possible such technology might exist. Rather that as things stand today, with current technology and knowledge it is not. With this in mind then, it is a safe assumption that if hypothetically all the men suddenly disappeared, women have the means to continue the survival of the human species. The same cannot be said if the reverse were to occur and women suddenly disappeared. Men would be pretty much up the creek without a paddle so to speak. Sure they could get busy developing the means technologically to support the growth of a human fetus to term using stored eggs from all the women who had undergone in vitro fertilization. The reality of this very hypothetical situation however, is that women offer a much more practical format and means for human survival without men than men do without women. That said, the most effective, efficient, and dare I say enjoyable, means to reproduction is the one we have – men and women coming together to give birth and raise a child together.

It could also be said that women have a few other key traits that make them more self-contained. These traits are linked to women’s instinctual emotional and nurturing abilities that were required to sustain the life of an infant to an age where they could be self-sufficient. While these traits have long been viewed as ‘soft’ skills and not necessarily valued throughout our largely patriarchical led history, they are rather necessary skills for effectively raising a child. It has been proven that children lacking nurturing fail to thrive as well as those that do. There is also an increasing research showing how women’s more innate collaboration and social intelligence abilities are well suited to our current knowledge based, team collaboration approach type of economies. Just as the very word collaboration invokes a circular image, women are like a circle, where a man is linear. I’ve noticed that men tend to be more linear in their thinking; such as x + y = z, black or while, right or wrong, and so on. Women on the other hand are generally more comfortable with the idea that there is neither right or wrong but simply different. Women are generally accustomed to not necessarily having to choose either black or white, but including them along with all the shades of grey and myriad of rainbow colours in between. However, this trait has its downside in that women can be indecisive because there are so many choices. I’ve experienced situations where women are so collaborative, we become stalled and unable to make decisions and act and have appreicated men’s linear thinking and approach to move forward.

So while women may not need men to survive, we want them because together we thrive and become greater than the sum of our two parts. When a man and women embrace our whole beings, differences and commonalities, we both transform as we join together, the man changes from being the linear being he tends to be…black or white, good or bad, right or wrong…to a intertwined circle married together with us, making each of us greater than the sum of our two parts: 1 +1 = 3

just sayin’ 🙂

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About tether abundance

abundance tetherer, social advocate, bodacious blogger, jill of all trades, rebel businesswoman, ah-ha coach, caring friend, soul sister, blessed daughter, laughin', learnin' & lovin' along the thrilling roller coaster journey of my life.
Personable and perceptive, I'm all about the abundance, the glass half full, I get jazzed about making a difference where I can together with other people. Like everyone, I've lived through the good, the bad and the ugly times, personally and professionally, that are inevitable in life's journey. Along the way, I've been fortunate to learn non-stop, get a BSc.and MBA, and had my fair share of success over 28 years working with a fascinating array of people in a diverse range of industries, sectors and organizations, from single person entrepreneurs to global Fortune 500 companies.